Once we ('83-'84 Bike Squad) got to the border in late '83, we had XR500RCs painted the Army "
shakhi" colour (a mixture of shit and khaki). Our helmets were still white and we had stupid glass goggles which we soon replaced with Smith plastic MX goggles that our families would post up to us. That made a heck of a difference. We later painted the helmets shaki too. The
shaki paint kept coming off the bikes' plastics so it was really difficult to keep them semi-camouflaged.
We bought a lot of our own kit to make riding easier, and later even bought our own spares to keep the bikes running so as to avoid having to become foot-slogging infantry if our bikes packed up. There's a fascinating story in itself about the tricks we employed to deal with stretched timing chains, and worn chains and sprockets.
The platoon was split into three sections stationed at Okatope, Ogongo and Ruacana.
This pic is taken at the Ruacana Dam hydro-electric scheme around end '83, perhaps early '84. The bike squad section from Ogongo had ridden up past Ombalantu and Mahenene, to Ruacana, and met up with the Ruacana section, who took the Ogongo guys for a tour of the dam. We all rode down the huge tunnel inside the dam wall, to the turbine and generator hall of the hydro-electric plant. On the way back out there was much wheelieing up the tunnel back to daylight. There was a massive sliding door protecting the entrance to the tunnel, and mortarists from 3SAI stationed on top of the dam wall to protect the dam from attack.
The '83-'84 Bike Squad section based at Ruacana worked mainly in hilly terrain, protecting the SWAWEK (South West Africa Water and Electricity Corporation) powerlines that ran from Ruacana Dam southwards through the Kaokoveld.
In contrast with this, the section based at Ogongo patrolled the flat "
shonas" which were like shallow lakes that extended for kilometers at times.
Around Dec - Mar there was always more rain on the way. Here another shona can be seen behind the "
Noddy Car" (Eland armoured car).
One got used to wet boots and soggy feet. Periodically, someone would disappear into a canal or a hole and the bike would drown. Somehow those XRs just kept on going, month after month, after draining the water and changing the oil. Heck, ask anyone in Bike Squad and they'll have huge respect for those bikes, considering what they went through.
Sometimes (rarely) we had to dump the bikes for a few days and head out on a "
mynjag" (mine hunt) in Buffels. Here we are stuck and trying to pull a Buffel out the mud. I think the Buffel patrols just made us appreciate the freedom our bikes gave us when we got back to riding patrol. Nobody really bugged Bike Squad so we could come and go as we pleased, to some extent.
I haven't looked at some of these photos in over 20 years. And I have 1000 more showing us being a lot more mischievous and having some great riding fun. The downside was that one could always ride into a trip wire or hit a land mine or fall really hard.
The good side - great memories of a contentious time in history, and the ability to wheelie for 20km today!
Topic: The year long All Expenses Paid hooligan ride (Read 53096 times)
